Unit 35.1 - Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763-1914
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To what extent were the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada in the years 1837-38 motivated by common causes?
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Unit 35.1 - Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763-1914
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To what extent were the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada in the years 1837-38 motivated by common causes?
[19/20 marks gained for the 2017 Exam series Paper 3 Edexcel: Losing and Gaining a Empire – Canada module]
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Unit 35.1 - Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763-1914
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To what extent were the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada in the
years 1837-38 motivated by common causes?
[19/20 marks gained for the 2017 Exam series Paper 3 Edexcel: Losing
and Gaining a Empire – Canada module]
Upper Canada had a rebellion (1837), led by William Lyon Mackenzie, which was
caused by British tight political control of the Family Compact and Anglican
Church, actions of the lieutenant governors and due to various socio-economic
problems. Lower Canada (1938) had a rebellion, led by Louis-Jospeh Papineau,
which was caused by rising expectations of reform, exclusion of French
representations in politics and the growing tensions between the French and the
British. While both rebellions have some different causes the underlying causes
of both rebellions were the same therefore it is to a great extent that the
rebellions were motivated by common causes as the fundamental issues of both
the Canadas were very similar.
One reason for the rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada was due to the
dominance of an elite group. In Upper Canada there was a network of men who
dominated legislative, bureaucratic and judicial centers of power called the
Family Compact. The Family Compact dominated the appointed council who
yielded executive powers largely for their own benefit. They were loyalists and
conservative figures,” Tory Clique”, eg two leading figures were Chief Justice John
Robison and Anglican bishop John Strachan. They had a stranglehold on places in
the legislative and executive council and resisted any reforms for change while
having a strong influence over the land ownership. Land ownership (based on a
freehold system) was dominated in the hands of the Family Compact and the
Anglican Church, who had 1/7 th of all lands in UC and had clergy revenues
dedicated to the Anglican church. This caused tensions to the other protestant
groups such as the Baptists. These were a cause of rebellion as they were
inflexible to change and were a reactionary government. Similarly, in Lower
Canada they had the Chateau Clique which were a group selected by the
governors from their executive council of loyalists and British members who
tended to be successful English businessmen. This English-speaking oligarchy
dominated the views in the legislative assembly even though they were a
minority. For example, they resisted Pierre Bedard attempts to instituted
ministerial responsibility and in 1820 they opposed assembly efforts to control
public revenues and in 1820 proposed a unification of Upper and Lower Canada
which was blocked. This was a significant cause as the system of patronage in
both Canadas gave a sense of resentment as both groups wanted a legislative
assembly which was elected not appointed where the represented groups voice
was heard. The Committee’s report, published in 1829 demonstrates the
fundamental problem which was that the British did not and could not offer a
solution to the inherent constitutional problems of the 1791 constitution which
helped centralize power in the hands of a few. The Durham Report shows how
this was the common underlying cause of the rebellions in both upper and lower
Canada as they brought in a responsible self-government for the new province
which was an elected assembly which followed the wishes of the local assembly
not the governors.
The rebellions in both Canadas stemmed from the similar socio-economic
problems of the time. One social issue which was problematic in both Canadas
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